UK consumers spend £36 every month using mobile payments, study finds

British consumers are spending an average of £36.76 (US$44.95) of their monthly disposable income through mobile payments, equating to £1.46bn (US$1.78bn) spent using mobile devices in the UK every month, research released by VoucherCodes reveals.

Some 8% of consumers are already using mobile payments in-store today, the online discount and offers provider says, with more than one in four (72%) set to use the technology in the next five years.

Millennials (those aged 18 to 34) are likely to be the most willing to embrace payment innovations with only about a fifth (21%) reporting they will never use mobile payments, compared to more than half (56%) of those aged 55 and over. Just under two fifths (39%) of the total sample said they will never use mobile payment options when purchasing.

The findings, based on the responses of 1,692 UK consumers, reveal millennials are spending £67.59 (US$82.62) of their monthly disposable income via their mobile devices compared to £16.89 (US$20.65) of those aged 55 and over. Currently, men are more than twice as likely as women to shop using mobile payments in store (12% against 5%).

Other findings reveal:

4% of British shoppers are using wearable payments, with 24% set to adopt the technology by 2026 — 45% of millennials say they will embrace wearable technology within the next 10 years;

45% of consumers would consider using fingerprint payments in store if the technology became available;

29% would use augmented reality, such as virtual reality headsets, to try on clothes while shopping;

37% report email alerts from retailers about exclusive offers and deals are among their preferred method of communication.

“These findings show consumers are really warming to the increasingly innovative new shopping technologies being introduced to the British high street and this trend is only set to continue as the technology becomes more widely adopted,” says Claire Davenport, managing director at VoucherCodes.

“Not surprisingly, younger generations who are more digitally savvy are the most enthusiastic to adopt new technology. It is vital that retailers evolve their digital offering to meet consumer demand.”